Mapping by ownership

This first map shows the locations marked by type:

green for Starbucks

yellow for McDonald’s

brown for Dunkin Donuts

As this is only the most basic of plots you can do with Fusion Tables, I’ll leave it to the statisticians and Malcolm Gladwell to explain the seemingly strong correlation between the locations of Starbucks and the population density of New Yorkers who are able to afford living and/or purchasing Frappucinos in Manhattan.

Mapped by health scores

This second map shows the same locations, but marked according to the score of their latest health inspections. The colors come from the grading curve of the NYC-DOH’s system:

0 to 13 points is an A

14 to 27 is a B

C is 28 points and above.

Summary of the scores

Here is some summary data for the three major brands:

Company

Number of

Minimum score

Max score

Average score

Dunkin Donuts

507

0

39

8.76

McDonald's

235

2

67

10.59

Starbucks

269

2

29

6.70

Note: This summary only covers the most recent inspections for these locations as of early October 2013. But I don’t think the scores vary greatly over the history of the NYC inspection program.

The scores for the big chains are pretty good. If you’re surprised, it’s because you thought there was a correlation between tastiness of food and cleanliness of location. However, it’s more likely that bigger companies have better standardized processes for keeping things within the health code.